I really had not considered that Mother’s Day would apply to me this year since Linden is still 40 days away from making me a very proud Mom, but my very thoughtful husband (and Mom E., Emily and a few co-workers who sent me sweet cards) thought otherwise.

On Sunday Ryan made me some delicious homemade apple cinnamon pancakes for breakfast and then we got ready to leave the house. I had no idea where we were headed, but Ryan always plans very fun and entertaining activities for us, so I was sure that my first Mother’s Day would be no exception! As soon as we crossed the bridge to Palm Beach, I was pretty sure I knew where we were going - Flager Museum, aka Whitehall, the beautiful home of Henry Flagler, co-founder (along with John D. Rockefeller) of Standard Oil and turn-of-the-century railroad developer. The outing was especially inspired by our recent viewing of “America’s Castles” that featured Whitehall…the viewing of “America’s Castles” was itself inspired by an episode from Season 6 of Gilmore Girl’s

 The exterior of Whitehall in Palm Beach

Here’s some pictures of the inside of the home…

 The Grand Ballroom with 25K gold decor

 The diningroom…table seats 24!

 The ladies’ post-dinner sitting room

 Ryan and I standing behind Whitehall, the Intercoastal Waterway & downtown West Palm Beach are behind us. Come visit us - it’s beautiful - This picture is about 14 miles from our house

 The beautiful pink topaz & diamond ring that Ryan gave me on Mother’s Day in honor of Linden’s upcoming birth. I love it!!!!!!!! Ryan said he decided that I would be able to enjoy it more on Mother’s Day than when I was tired at the hospital after giving birth. The gift was very, very thoughtful of him. 

It was a wonderful day that we got to spend together and I can’t wait to meet our sweet girl!

 

 

It is almost 1:30 a.m. on Sunday and I am up because I can’t sleep. I honestly can’t remember the last night I slept through the night, but I think it was somewhere around Week 15 or so of the pregnancy, which would have been like the last week of December 07. Crazy! Tonight I can’t sleep becasue I have some how developed a sinus infection/cold that snuck up on me last night. Luckily I recalled that my OBGyn told me I could take a 12-hour Sudafed if I needed, so hopefully that will help.

Ryan and I watched Charlie Wilson’s War yesterday afternoon - it was a highly enjoyable film about a Congressman from Texas [played by Tom Hanks] who, pretty much, single-handedly gets Congress to spend some $200 million to give weapons & weapon training to the Afghanistan people so they could defeat Russia [al-la Cold War] in the late 1980s. I thought the story was very interesting, and also distrubing knowing that a Congressman from East Texas could so easily run a covert war with very little checks & balances, which ultimately gave us the Taliban. Craziness!

While we were watching the movie I felt some of my first contractions - they were short, only lasted about 4-8 seconds and I felt about 4 in a row…followed by a couple other random ones later in the night. Ryan has started teasing that Linden wants to be a May baby…I am def. motivated to pack my hospital bag tomorrow so we will be ready any time! I think it might also be a good time for us to figure out how to install the car seat and put the finishing touches on her nursery :-) 

We can’t wait to meet our sweet girl! She has dropped this week and the doctor says that babies typically come 2-4 weeks after they drop into position, so they maybe right in predicting that Linden will enter the world before her June 24 due date. We’re ready whenever she is

Yesterday Ryan and I spent 7 hours is a prepared childbirth education class at the hospital. It was SUPER informative and very, very educational as a first time parent.

We learned about:

•  the different stages of labor and the different types of contractions that are associated with each stage
• the proper breathing techniques (aka lamaze) to use during each stage and with different types of contractions
• various birthing options that are available at the hospital
• how the labor process progresses at each stage
• physical and emotional expectations for each labor stage
• pain management options available, how they are administered and their effects
• And, my personal favorite…labor is not an illness and so I shouldn’t have a love affair with the hospital bed during my labor :-)  (that is unless I have an epidural and am unable to get out of the bed)

I also want to mention that I am glad that I never saw a “miracle of life” video before yesterday. Maybe it took on a whole new reality being pregnant, but I think it might have scared me away from becoming a Mom…some times ignorance is bliss

I feel like I have great tools to be much more prepared and confidant to tackle the labor process with relaxation and focus. The class has even casued me to evaluate my decision to have an epidural (SHOCK!). I felt like I really understood the breathing techniques and was able to use them when we practiced (although the greatest pain I felt was Ryan pushing down really hard on my thigh). I know it will be really challenging to stay focused on staying relaxed when the contractions are coming, especially during the transitional stage of labor, BUT, I think that I could do it. I am going to take this week to really think through my options and make a committed decision. I’ll keep you posted

Time seems to be flying by me these days! I think last week Ryan and I were only home one night together. Among our activites, I went to an Infant/Child CPR class at the hospital that was very education and informative - let’s hope I don’t need to use my skills on Linden and that if I do, I will remember everything This Saturday we have an all day child birth education class and next week is my breastfeeding class and then we’re done with our hospital baby education!

About 20 ladies at the hospital got together and threw me a baby shower at work, which was very sweet and we had a great time together! Even a couple of the vendors that I work with regularly came…everyone wore pink and my boss had a lot of the nursing staff wear pink scrubs that day - how cute is that?! Ironically, I was the only one not in pink… I am continually blessed by all of the sweet folks at the hospital who stop by to see how I’m doing or bring me little gifts for Linden - even people that I don’t know (our hospital has 1600 employees).

I have been trying to finish things up in the nursery. At this point we’re just waiting for the changing table & dresser to come in, but they have been out of stock for several weeks now, so hopefully we’ll be able to get those in soon and finish putting things together and I will get some pics posted. Ryan made some paintings last week to go with her bedding and they turned out so good! He is such a talented guy and it was a very sweet surprise to come home and find him with his masterpieces. What a great Daddy! (Although he would say the paintings were for Mommy, not Linden )

Overall, I feel great these days. In the past week or so I have had several days where I felt like I had no energy, but for the most part I feel good. There have been no more instances of foot swelling, so we’ll chalk that horrible incident up to my sunburn and pray that I continue to have normal feet. I am now going to the doctors once a week until she is born and I just had a doctor’s appointment on Monday. Dr. H. said that things look great, that I’m doing awesome and that Linden’s heartbeat is strong. At the time of my appointment Linden was head down like she should be for birth, and Dr. H. said that we hope that she stays that way, although at this point she could still move around a little.

I am kicked and hit constantly by her movements, which are comforting. When she gets really crazy moving in the evenings I usually go and sit in the nursery and rock just a bit and that usually calms her movements down so that I can sleep. My sleeping is really not that great these days and I figure that is nature’s way of preparing me for when Linden is here. Although, I will say that I am very eager to give the Mom’s on Call 3-night rule a try as soon as she is 2 weeks old. From this book I have read, the Mom’s on Call say that any baby can begin sleeping through the night once they are 2 weeks old. Some readers may be thinking that I am a crazy naive first-time mom, which I’m sure is true, but I am seriously planning to give the Mom’s on Call plan a shot. I have other friends who have successfully implemented this and I hope I can too. I will write more about it in detail when I actually try it out.

Me with my lovely hostesses - Emily, Carolynn & Brittany

The adorable watermelon bassinet that Brittany’s dad carved out!

Emily contacted my mom, Ryan’s mom, my step-mom & Ryan’s sister Erin and let them know about the shower and had them send gifts ahead to her and she brought them to the shower. It was so thoughtful and made our family seem a lot closer than on the other side of the U.S. One of the items my Mom send along was the outfit I wore home from the hospital so that Linden can wear it too

Mom E. sent along this blanket that had been Ryan’s. How sweet!

Thank you to everyone for showering Ryan, Linden and I with so much love and support!

 

 My name is Kimberly and I am crazy obsessive about my feet. I always have been.

What would be one of the most awful things that could happen to the feet of someone like myself? Amputation, dis-figuration, in-grown toe nail perhaps…while all of those would be terrible in their own right, this week I experienced pregnancy’s cruel reality that effected my feet - extreme swelling.

This devestating swelling took my calves & feet on like a black-ops military operation late on Wednesday. I got home from work that day, took off my panty-hose and looked down in shock and amazement that the things attached to my legs were not marshmallows and were, in fact, my feet. I literally sat down and started to cry via the amazing hormones of pregnancy.

Ryan assured me that my feet didn’t look that bad and that I was pregnant and this was part of the deal. I just couldn’t get over it as I couldn’t think of any high-sodium food that I had consumed and the rest of my body (hands, face) that would normally be affected by such swelling, appeared normal.

Thursday morning I didn’t feel like the foot/leg swelling were any better, so I took the day off and stayed home with my feet up all day, drank tons of water, and soaked my feet in cold salt water. IT WORKED! My feet have been totally normal since then. Ryan is so over hearing me proclaim, “look at my feet! - they are normal!!!!!!!!!!!!”

Me and my normal feet are off to get a pedicure and the hands will get a manicure to celebrate

 

 Today at work, Henry the mail guy brought me my daily FedEx packages and other mail items to my office. Only one of the packages came from a book distributor and I assumed that some advertising agency was sending me their latest cool sample to allure me to use their agency. No! Much better! My sweet Ryan had bought me a mommy book and shipped it to my office to surprise me! How great!

The book is called The Moms on Call: Guide to Basic Baby Care. I read the first 45 pages on my lunch break today and I’m loving it - what a great book packed with simple, practical advice from 2 mommy’s that are also pediatric nurses. Ryan said he heard about the book during a Christian radio talk show he caught on his drive to work recently. The book also comes with an instructional DVD that shows the nurses demonstrating diapering, massaging tear ducts, taking a rectal temperature, nail clipping, nasal suctioning, bath time routine, swaddling, bedtime routine and covers the 3-day rule. I am only a little ways in to the book, but I anticipate using it a lot and reccommending it to others.

Thanks for the great book babe!

 Ryan and Chad figuring out all the crib parts

 Me putting her bedding on…

 

Since our family & closest friends live far away, I thought I would share a picture of some of my favorite clothes that Ryan and I have picked out for Linden Grandma’s, please note the jacket & sweater we bought. She can’t wear that in Florida, so I guess that means we will be visiting you guys around 6-9 months!